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Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

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Sunday, January 20, 2013

In an article for the first edition of Cryptozoology Bernard Heuvelmans wrote that cryptozoology is the study of 'unexpected animals' and following on from that perfectly reasonable assertion, it seems to us that - whereas the study of out of place birds may not have the glamour of the hunt for bigfoot, or lake monsters - it is still a perfectly valid area for the Fortean Zoologist to be interested in. So, after about six months of regular postings on the main bloggo, Corinna has taken the plunge and started a 'Watcher of the Skies' blog of her own as part of the CFZ Bloggo Network.Scilly sea birds get big funding boost

Rare European eels from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia make an epic journey when it's time to mate. They leave rivers and brackish habitats, swimming hundreds of miles across the Atlantic to the Sargasso Sea, an open ocean region that is warmer, saltier, bluer and clearer than the surrounding waters.

This trek had remained a mystery to science since no eggs or adult eels have ever been caught in the Sargasso Sea. But researchers recently attached satellite tags to about 600 eels from different places in Europe and were finally able to map the route of the spawning fish.

The hunt for British Big Cats attracts far more newspaper-column inches than any other cryptozoological subject. There are so many of them now that we feel that they should be archived by us in some way, so we should have a go at publishing a regular round-up of the stories as they come in. In September 2012 Emma Osborne decided that the Mystery Cat Study Group really deserved a blog of its own within the CFZ Blog Network.Connecticut mountain lion

As you know our beloved cat Pringles (left) had to be put to sleep
yesterday as she had become very ill and could not eat, drink or walk
anymore. As you can imagine we were all very sad and feeling a bit down in
the dumps but today a little furry angel in the shape of a tom cat from across
the street came to cheer us up. We had gone out shopping and when we returned
Samson (we found out later that is his name) came across the road meowing and wanting to be made a fuss of.

He had just moved into his new address and had
come to pay his condolences. It was just what we needed. We fussed over him and
then he went and lay down where Pringles used to lie next to the radiator.
We had a word with his owners and explained the situation and they said as long
as he wasn't a nuisance he could stay for while. Samson (below) the bereavement-counselling cat! It's as if some one up there knew we needed a bit of help at
this sad time and sent him to cheer us up a bit. It's a funny old
world!

So once again my rhymes are doneand although
they were lots of funin fact they've made today a fun dayand they will
be back next sunday!

* The Gonzo Daily is a two way process. If
you have any news or want to write for us, please contact me at jon@eclipse.co.uk.
If you are an artist and want to showcase your work, or even just say hello
please write to me at gonzo@cfz.org.uk.
Please copy, paste and spread the word about this magazine as widely as
possible. We need people to read us in order to grow, and as soon as it is
viable we shall be invading more traditional magaziney areas. Join in the fun,
spread the word, and maybe if we all chant loud enough we CAN stop it raining.
See you tomorrow...

* The Gonzo Daily is - as the name implies - a
daily online magazine (mostly) about artists connected to the Gonzo Multimedia
group of companies. But it also has other stuff as and when the editor feels
like it. The same team also do a weekly newsletter called - imaginatively - The
Gonzo Weekly. Find out about it at this link: http://gonzo-multimedia.blogspot.com/2012/11/all-gonzo-news-wots-fit-to-print.html*
Jon Downes, the Editor of all these ventures is an old hippy of 53 who -
together with his orange cat - puts it all together from a converted potato shed
in a tumbledown cottage deep in rural Devon which he shares with various fish
and batrachians. He is ably assisted by his lovely wife Corinna, his
bulldog/boxer Prudence, his mother-in-law, and a motley collection of social
malcontents. Plus.. did we mention the orange cat?

Long story short. My
parents are aging and divesting unwanted possessions. So today I took possession
of an ancient bison skull my mother
acquired many years ago. It turns out this bison skull dates back approx. 10,000
years or so, which brings it into the end of the last
North American ice age. For
years I never gave this object a thought, until today.

Upon closer examination
it became evident that this poor old beast was the victim
of a horrible tussle, as
best I can surmise based on a wicked wound over the left eye socket. The obvious
evidence appears to be a wound from an opposing male in
rut. There is a gaping hole to the
skull above the left eye, which upon close inspection appears to have become
infected. I can only guess that this majestic beast died a slow, horrible
death.

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